Donna Collins

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How Do You Cope With Writing?

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Donna Collins

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I’m currently in the middle of reading Kristen Lamb’s book ‘Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer‘.

Firstly, I have to recommend that all writers read Kristen’s books, the other one being ‘We Are Not Alone’ (you can read my review here).

Secondly, I have to excitedly brag that I am in it. Yay me, I’m famous! Page 24 and 25 for anyone who is interested 😀

Ok, now down to business. Kristen talks about how writers have to juggle their writing with everyday life. Especially writers who already have a full time job. Their allocated writing time is squeezed in between a tuna mayo sandwich and a packet of cheese and onion crisps at lunchtime.

I am extremely lucky. Why? I’ll tell you. I am able to write full time. So, in theory, this should make my career as a writer a doddle, right?

Wrong!

Sitting at my desk all day piled on the pounds. I started having to tuck my belly in my trousers like I did my T-Shirt.

Now, I had two options.

Option A: I could go on a huge shopping spree and replace all my clothes, or

Option B: Do some exercise.

Option A was without  doubt my favorite choice. Afterall, I don’t have time to excercise……well, apart from when I run to the car. But, Option A did have a downfall. I have expensive tastes and my husband would have suffered open wallet surgery. And even I’m not that wicked 🙂

So, Option B it was. But now I had another problem. When could I squeeze in exercise?

My normal day is this: Get Up, Get Kids To School, Write, Collect Kids, Play Taxi to After School Activities, Return Home, Cook (my husband will argue this one), Help With Homework, Clean House (my husband will argue this one, too).

The truth is, I am on the go all day until I sit down at 8.30pm to eat my dinner. I then hold my eyelids up with match sticks and indulge in an hour of television before I crash out for the night.

No, my only choice was to get up earlier. Earlier! I must really like my clothes.

So, now I get up at 6.10am and watch the news while I pound my step machine and do a hundred crunches.

And you know what? I actually like it!

So, have you had to change your day to fit in writing? Have you had to sacrifice anything? Do you feel writing is worth it? How many hours a day do you get to spend on writing? Let me know. I love hearing your comments.

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin

 

24 responses to “How Do You Cope With Writing?”

  1. mwtaylorchael Avatar
    mwtaylorchael

    One hour a day if I am lucky. I have a full time job, a fiance who can be quite demanding. I have to sacrifice sleep, and time with my fiance to write…

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      Ah, but one hour is better than nothing! lol.

      Reply
    2. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      Michael, I suggest you give your fiance your credit card and tell her to go shopping. That way you make her happy and you get time to write 😀

      Reply
  2. samm78 Avatar
    samm78

    It’s funny because before I had my daughter I had loads of time to write and I wasted it! I would sit at the laptop and procrastinate, waiting for the muse to pop by and never actually write much at all.

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      ……and then kids take over our world, right? I know that feeling 🙂

      Reply
    2. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      I find I still do do that. Twitter is a killer for me…….actually, so is my FB page. I am always on that.

      Reply
  3. Ashley Wade (@crankyashley) Avatar
    Ashley Wade (@crankyashley)

    That’s kind of ironic. My job is sitting 7.5 hours of the day. In the morning, I don’t have the time and refuse to get up at 4:30 to exercise. By the end of the day, I’m too tired to walk up the hill to the bus so I (lazily) catch the other bus up the hill to my second bus. It’s amazing how tiring sitting can be.

    Now, if I were a full time writer, the first thing I would do when I rolled out of bed would be head down to the gym downstairs (which I did when I worked evenings).

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      Ashley. 4.30am! How much exercising was you planning on doing?! Lol, thanks for commenting. You’ve made me smile……a lot 😀

      Reply
      1. Ashley Wade (@crankyashley) Avatar
        Ashley Wade (@crankyashley)

        Oh I wasn’t getting up that early (LOL) and never will. I’m glad I could make you happy 😀

  4. kcleighton Avatar
    kcleighton

    Great Post! It does feel like something has to suffer……the house is not as tidy and the meals are not as fancy (according to my 11 year old) but the writing has never been better. : )

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      See, now l look at not having time to clean the house as the silver lining of being a busy writer 😀

      ….oh, and my son said of my courgette, meat pie thingy dinner the other night. “I don’t want this, I want real food.” I guess he meant chips or pizza.

      Reply
  5. David N. Walker Avatar
    David N. Walker

    Donna, you have the same problem I have. Retired from any work other than writing, I have no excuse not to write – which our friend Kristen points out to me from time to time. Maybe I should listen to her. You think?

    Reply
    1. Nigel Blackwell Avatar
      Nigel Blackwell

      Ha, no excuse not to write … listen to her … yes, we all think, David. You’ve got a great story waiting to see the light of day and we’re all waiting!
      Cheers

      Reply
    2. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      I would definitely listen to her. She has other ways of making you do what she wants if you don’t lol

      Reply
  6. PW Creighton Avatar
    PW Creighton

    It certainly one of the most significant flaws of being a writer. Most days it feels like you’re already running 2 hours behind on things that finding time to exercise would be a luxury to actually relax but it is not the writer’s way. We have to find a way to shoehorn it in otherwise we guilt ourselves. Ah well, cheers to shoehorns!

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      LOL, A shoehorn? So, that’s what I needed? Oh boy, I’m gonna write like a rocket now.

      Reply
  7. Jennie B Avatar
    Jennie B

    I get up at 4:30 as well so that I can get the majority of my writing and blogging done before my kids are awake. but sometimes I get those rare moments (like now) where they are both asleep and I can catch up on a few things!

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      4.30am!? Good God. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

      Reply
  8. Nigel Blackwell Avatar
    Nigel Blackwell

    I have similar morning routine. I get up 530 (ish) and do 30 min treadmill (and Topgear, Red Dwarf etc), make breakfast then kiddo to school. I hate the first minute of the treadmill but after that I get on with it, and by the time I get off I’m all charged up for the day. I do far worse on days I don’t exercise.
    Sadly I don’t get to write until 8 in the evening 🙁 I’d do way better in the morning, but I just can’t pry myself out of bed any earlier.
    Saw Lee Child last week. His routine is to get up around 10:30am, start writing at noon and finish around 5pm. Now that’s a routine!
    Cheers!

    Reply
    1. Donna Newton Avatar
      Donna Newton

      Now Lee Child has got it right. I’m better writing later on in the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately, that doesn’t ‘fit’ with my schedule. 🙁

      ………and no comment about Red Dwarf……..

      Reply
  9. Draven Ames Avatar
    Draven Ames

    Great post again Donna. Writing has become harder and harder for me as my back has gotten worse. I sit and shake as I write this, and I don’t know exactly why. But I push on. Physical therapy helps, as does stretches, but nothing makes the pain or the shaking go away. In fact, it has only been getting worse.

    So I find it hard to sit at the computer anymore, taking time off more and more often. Soon, I fear I won’t be writing anymore.

    But I love to write, so here I am. Hopefully, with physical therapy and pain management, I’ll get better. For now, it is a struggle.

    Congratulations on making it into the book. That is something to be proud of. I am glad that I have found you; I love your blog.

    Draven Ames

    Reply
  10. Piper Bayard Avatar
    Piper Bayard

    Actually, my schedule at the moment is rather insane. On a good day, I wake up around 5:30 a.m. and I get to the gym. Then I take my son to the bus stop and get my blog posted before I take my daughter to her bus stop. After that, I write a few thousand words on my WIP, take a break in the afternoon for a couple of hours, and then prepare the blog for the next day. In all, I work between 9 – 12 hours a day on writing and social media. I try to take Sundays off after I’ve posted the Sunday blog. I think I’m going to have to make a few changes for the long term.

    Good luck, Donna. If you find the magic formula, please let me know. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Jamie Lee Scott Avatar
    Jamie Lee Scott

    This might sound crazy, but I own 2 businesses and work about 80+ hours a week. I don’t get up early because I’m not a morning person, and because I usually don’t get home until 10pm or later from our restaurant. But that said, I have no problem staying up late. During the day there is always some downtime at the restaurant, and I take notes and outline while I’m there. My other business is a jewelry manufacturing company, so I listen to books, and watch movies and such while I work (perk of self-employment). I love that my Kindle reads to me. I write mostly on Sundays, but I get at least an hour in every day. And I’m a fast writer because I’ve worked it all out before I ever type the first word of my novel or screenplay. The only problem is that I’m always in my head, working out plots, world building, or writing character bios.

    Reply
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